The New Greener Greentip
The Army set out to make a more environmentally friendly bullet, and wound up with something to really brag about.
There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the M855 “Green Tip” ammo that the United States has been using since 1982, except that it has a lot of lead in it. With the adoption of the Montreal Protocols, Executive Order (1993), EPA 17 List, and AEC Study into lead contamination, the Army began looking for an unleaded solution to their 5.56mm rounds. With the use of a lead free projectile the Army could eliminate 2,000 tons of lead from production, gain access to formerly closed training ranges, and removes the future lead hazard from the environment.
The new M855A1 EBR, actually has much better performace, and is lead free……
Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk
